Vancouver Island Trip
 

Hi,
I´m planing a bike trip to Vancouver Island in the end of july. I was planing to do the trip in 2-3 weeks. Here you can check out my route, how I planned it so far.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?m...tY&usp=sharing

I haven´t made any trips to Vancouver Island so I have some questions, which I so far couldn´t find out through the web.
Does anybody know...
- some good camping sites on planned route? Don´t want to stay in hostels or hotels on the road...
- how the roadconditions are? My girlfriend has an racing bike, so we would need proper streets.
- if wild animals on the road or on the camping sites are a matter?
- the part from point D to point E (Torfino - Courtenay)? It is about 180km, so I wanted to do it in two days. Does anybody know a good places to stay?

Thanks alot for your help and your information! :)

Rowan and I have cycled the bit from Victoria to Nanaimo. I'd recommend travelling as close to the coast as possible. The route meanders a bit, but it is quiet, and well suited to road bicycles.

Day 1: We took the ferry over from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay
Day 2: We cycled to Brentwood Bay and took the ferry across to Mill Bay, then cycled up to Duncan
Day 3: We cycled to Ladysmith
Day 4: We cycled to Nanaimo
Day 5: We took the ferry from Duke Point to Tsawwassen, and were picked up and dropped off in Abbotsford
Day 6: We cycled from Abbotsford to Chilliwack

These are photos from that trip in 2011:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/machka...57627943421118


I have also cycled in the Duncan, Chemainus, Nanaimo, Qualicum Beach areas as part of randonnees.


And Rowan and I just got back from a short driving (with a bit of cycling) tour of Vancouver Island a week or so ago. We were thinking of driving out to Tofino, but figured that we would spend all our time driving and not enough time cycling, so we went up to Campbell River instead.


We have always stayed in hotels, so I can't comment on campgrounds.


As for wildlife, you probably won't encounter too much of it going up from Victoria to Nanaimo, but there's a decent chance you'll encounter wildlife on the rest of your tour. :)

I have not cycled the island but have driven most of your proposed route a couple times.

- for camping, check out the provincial parks. Specifically, stamp river, Englishman river, little qualicum, miracle beach, and rathtrevor beach are all good spots on the island. On the Sunshine Coast, check out Okeover arm, saltery bay, porpoise bay, and Roberts creek. The national park at long beach is also great but usually booked months in advance.

- I'm not sure about your route from port Alberni to Courtney. I would suggest going right back out to the coast and then taking the old island highway. It's right along the coast and far more scenic than the road you highlighted. To be honest, i am not even sure that one is paved.

- a couple worthwhile side trips: take your bikes on the water taxi from Powell river to Savary island. Only a couple of roads but amazing beaches and incredible scenery. Also check out the skookumchuck narrows near Egmont/earls cove.

The trip out to Tofino is amazing by car. Suicidal in spots by bike. Narrow to non existent shoulders and blind curves. Be prepared to take your lane and ignore the pissed off drivers for a few minutes at a time. If you do get out there, also check out Uclulet and the Wild Coast Trail.

i hope this helps. Happy touring.

RKD

I agree with Machka's advice about staying on the coastal road (highway 19a) It's really beautiful and has a lot of camp grounds along the way.

Also, there is a REALLY good barbecue stand on the South end of Parksville with real pit barbecues. It's cheap and super filling. The ribs just fall off the bone. Don't miss it. They're there from 11am - 5pm I think

Port Alberni has a few good restaurants right downtown. One of them has good barbecue sandwiches (try the pulled pork) and is worth the small detour. I'm not sure what the camping situation is like on Highway 4 out to Tofino but if you want to wild camp there are lots of places once you get past Port Alberni. You just have to go down a logging road far enough to escape the road noise and throw your tent up in the woods.

I think the only camping near Tofino is in the National Parks about 50kms away from Tofino. Inquire about it at the tourist information centre at the junction of highway 4 and the road that goes to Uclulet. You can probably reserve a site there, they have a lot of good information on things you can do too :)

Don't go to any of the restaurants in Tofino unless you are desperate, they are expensive and not very tasty and the portions are small. The grocery store right downtown has a lot of good food like smoked salmon and roasted chicken, good assortment of cheese and veggies too. Way cheaper and more satisfying.

The roads on Vancouver Island are good, not great but you will have no problems on racing bikes. On Highway 4 between Parksville and Tofino there are some very narrow sections of road with no shoulder so you will have to ride in the same lane as cars. These sections are NOT wide enough to accommodate a bicycle and two cars beside one another so you will have to listen for cars and ride through them very fast. Those same sections tend to be bordered by cliffs and a guardrail preventing people from driving into the lakes beside the road. People on that stretch of road drive foolishly and don't tend to know what to do when they encounter bikes in that situation so be very alert!

In Courtney get food if you need it before you head out to the ferry because there's little available on the way (one gas station with snacks IIRC). Powell River has its main commercial district (and best restaurants, coffee shops and grocery stores way up the hill from the area near the ferry terminal. If you need anything at all you'd better buy it in Powell River because although there are some stores on the way to Saltery Bay, they have a limited selection and may not be open. There are some commercial campsites just outside of Powell River but after that I'm not sure, I don't pay to camp if I can avoid it so I don't pay attention to those campgrounds usually. I'm sure if you ask anyone they will be able to show you one. Or you could find a place to throw your tent up most places if you're desperate for sleep.

After Earls Cove you'll see a turn off to go into Egmont, there's not really much interesting about Egmont but if you're there at the right time there's the Skookumchuck Narrows which has some big tidal whirlpools and standing waves.

I don't know anything about Spipyus Park but I suggest you find out about it before you go. It's entirely possible the road in is not paved.

If you find yourself wanting to camp near Sechelt there's a nice campground with showers at Porpoise Bay just 10 kms NE of town. Davis Bay between Sechelt and Roberts Creek is really nice, good scenic view with large tidal flats in case you want to squish sand between your toes.

There's a provincial campsite in Roberts Creek that has showers, never stayed there but it's probably the best option in the area.

In Gibsons, if you don't need to buy anything I highly suggest you make a right turn on Pratt Road at the Northern part of the town and ride all the way down to the low level road beside the ocean. The road is excellent, not heavily traveled and there's a place called Gospel Rock that you can climb out on and get a good view of the ocean and surrounding islands, beautiful Arbutus trees too. there are some shops and restaurants further on in Lower Gibsons and after that it's a few kilometers to the ferry via a pleasant highway.

If you go through upper Gibsons you have three choices of the route to take to the ferry and they all involve fairly steep hills. School Road (just after the elementary school on the right) is around a 17% grade with lots of traffic and best avoided. Hwy 101 is not as steep but it's busy and the shoulder is usually covered in gravel and a bit narrow. If you want to ride it you'll have to block traffic in places and fly down without brakes on, probably not your idea of fun. The route direct to the ferry via North Road is kind of boring but the last part has a nice wide road with 2 lanes going in each direction and a shoulder. The hill right before the ferry is pretty steep though you could get going over 80 km/h on it with touring bikes I think. Your choice.

Can you tell I used to live in Gibsons? :lol:

Hope you have fun :)

Despite the hideous cover and dated info, I found this book very helpful for planning our Vancouver island bike tour in 2013.

Island Cycling: A Cycle Camper's Guide to Vancouver Island Paperback – by David Payne, 1996
http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...790868&thumb=1

Highlights for us were:
- Camping at Ruckle Provincial Park
- Cycling Salt Spring Island
- Camping at Newcastle Island Provincial Park

NOTE: the road to Tofino (a great place to visit) is terribly dangerous for cyclists. Very narrow, no shoulder, very steep. There is an awesome passenger ferry from Port Alberni that bypasses the dangerous road and gets you to Ucluelet, most of the way to Tofino.

+1. Excellent idea! Forgot all about the ferry.

Hi,
thanks alot for the info and all your tipps!!!

The road that you google-mapped to get from Port Alberni to Courtenay (via Great Central Lake and Comox Lake) is lovely, but not paved. (I rode it and wrote a journal here.) You will have to ride from Port Alberni back to the main highway at Qualicum Beach and then up to Courtenay, if you require a paved route.